The Handmaid’s Tale By Margaret Atwood

On the genre Dystopian novel “[Readers are] confronted with a negative vision of a future society whose characteristics are a result of several trends and affairs that were relevant at the time when the novel was written. In contrast to other utopian and dystopian novels, such as George Orwell's 1984 or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale deals with additional current issues of the last 20 years like AIDS, racism, anti-homosexuality or dropping birth rates.” Atwood herself would call it “speculative fiction” rather than “science fiction” Science fiction v. speculative fiction

The novel as satire The Handmaid's Tale is an effective satire, in which Atwood draws her readers' attention to: Unpleasant, brutal and horrific events in the recent past and in contemporary society Social trends The ways in which human beings tend to behave to one another. In chapter 30, Moira comments that, ‘You can't help what you feel...but you can help how you behave.' Offred is aware that this may not stop people behaving in unexpectedly vile ways: ‘Context is all', says Offred. During her novel, she draws on many examples of régimes which have their echoes in Gilead. The rapid change into extraordinary brutality from an apparently civilized society- as, for example, the massacre at Srebrenica of Bosnian Muslims by Serbs in the former Yugoslavia in shows Atwood's awareness of how easily our way of life could at any time be horrifically transformed.

The ‘future' as a commentary on the present Because The Handmaid's Tale is a satire, readers should be aware that Atwood is making demands on them: She asks them to consider current social attitudes and to reflect on the ways in which we view and treat other people according to similarities and differences between their backgrounds and beliefs and ours. She sometimes shows both sides of an issue: Gilead may be appallingly repressive in many ways, but Atwood suggests that such a régime could arise out of reaction to questionable areas of personal liberty. As Aunt Lydia says in chapter 5: ‘There is more than one kind of freedom....Freedom to and freedom from.'

Setting + resonance Published in 1985 Set in the U.S. (Massachusetts, near Harvard U.) in the near future, though the exact time is unspecified Totalitarian theocracy has been installed after a period of extreme liberalism New state is called Gilead, which is a Biblical allusion to a mountain in Genesis 31:22 An oath was taken on the mountain of Gilead to let God be the judge of human affairs and disputes In writing The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood seeks to present her reader with a series of challenges about our own society and also a series of moral dilemmas.

On the title + allusions The title is an allusion to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales… The handmaid of the title is an account by a woman whose real name is never disclosed (though can perhaps be deduced) who now goes by Offred—literally “Of Fred” In Gilead, women are entirely subservient, and some, the Handmaids, are slaves to their masters, which is why they are known by their master’s name Handmaids are expected to produce their master’s children, and this role is also a Biblical allusion to the story of Old Testament, namely to Genesis 30:1-3: When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, Give me children or I shall die! […] Then she said, Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her. Gilead has a dire shortage of children due to the toxic pollution of the atmosphere and due to the ease of accessibility to abortion in time’s past Abortion is now punishable by death in Gilead

Background on the author Margaret Eleanor Atwood was born in November 1939 in Ottawa, Canada Decided at age 16 she wanted to be a writer After publication of her first novel in 1961, she moved to the United States to study American Literature at Harvard University. During her time there, she learned a lot about New England and Puritanism, which is reflected in her works. Atwood has taught writing and literature at various universities, and she has done a lot of travelling, especially in 1970, when she took a year off to tour Italy, France, and England. Started writing The Handmaid’s Tale in 1984 while she was in Berlin, which, at the time, was a city divided between a democratic and totalitarian half

Her extensive travelling, her relationship to nature and her attitude towards feminism are reflected in her writings. Her works range from poetry, short stories and novels to children's books and literary criticism. Among the themes that she focuses on in her works are gender politics, “exploitation and victimization”. In her more recent writings, she puts more and more emphasis on human rights issues. The issues she writes about are also of importance in her everyday life. She is active in women's and human rights issues and a member of Amnesty International and various literary circles. With her writings, Atwood has won many literary awards, and she can be seen as Canada's most famous novelist. Her success with The Handmaid's Tale this novel can be seen in the millions of copies that were sold of it, the many languages it was translated into, and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, which Atwood won with this book.

Thematic aspects Control and Resistance Survival Responsibility Fertility Power Women ’ s Roles Religion The Individual Guilt History Love

Narrative Techniques Emphasis on process and reconstruction where the truth is only a matter of the teller ’ s perspective. Her narrative is a DISCONTINUOUS one, with frequent time shifts, short scenes and unfinished ending. “ Offred was boxed in. How do you tell a narrative from the Point of View of that person? The more limited you are, the more important details become. ” (Conversations, p.216)

Narrative Techniques Abrupt shifts from one scene to another and from present to past so that her present situation and past history are only gradually revealed. Fragments and flashbacks - the latter is more noticeable in “ Night ” sections. This works as a period of reflection for Offred Offred also tells the story of other women, like her own mother, Moira, Janine and even her predecessor at the commander ’ s house.

Narrative Techniques Offred tells the story of other Handmaids, all of them rebels or victims or both, which form a sad subtext to Offred ’ s narrative. The ghostly double: “ How could I have believed I was alone in here? There were always two of us. Get it over, she says ” (ch.46)

Narrative Techniques To sum up: Discontinuous narrative Time shifts Fragments and flashbacks Subtext Historical notes

Dystopian novels Often set in an imaginary future. Aim is to criticize real aspects of current society Satire or warning Can be disturbing

Historical parallels with Gilead “ One of the tasks I set myself when writing the novel was to avoid including any practices which had not already happened somewhere, at some time. One of the functions of the Historical Notes is to indicate the origins of some of the practices described in the novel. But it is vital to understand that ever single one of the practices described in the novel is drawn from the historical record. ” Atwood

Who is the class historical genius? What historical/ contemporary parallels can you think of for the following elements of the HT? 1)The Handmaid ’ s uniform? 2)Public execution? 3)Religious wars? 4)Propaganda and censorship? 5)Resistance movements? 6)An underground railroad? 7)‘ Re-education ’ ? 8)Testifying? 9)Enforced religious conversion? 10)Surveillance and spying? 11)Enforced attendance at certain rituals and ceremonies? 12)Rewriting the past

Critical lenses Narrative/story Sexual politics Russian formalist Structuralism Psychoanalysis Deconstructionist Marxist De-familiarization New historicist

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